If there’s one make-up must-have that we’ve always had an unwavering love affair with, lipstick has to win hands down. Afterall, nothing provides a quick beauty pick-me-up like a quick swipe of bold lip colour. Back in 2008, New Zealand’s lipstick queen, Karen Murrell, says a more subtle approach to colour. “There were a lot of blushing pinks in the market and still a lot of gloss from the 90s,” Murrell says. “But as the 2010s rolled in, true lipstick came back into vogue and we started to fall in love with real lipstick again.”
Murrell believes the resurgence in lipstick might have had something to do with the Global Financial Crisis. “If you could not afford a new dress you would buy a new lipstick instead to update your look,” she says. And as any beauty aficionado knows, while we might have a signature shade we reach for over and over, one lipstick is never enough. From out-there hues to demure, subtle colours, here are 10 of current favourite.
Clockwise from top left: Guerlain Kiss Kiss in Orange Peps ($60), Karen Murrell lipstick in Cordovan Natural ($30), Dior Rouge Dior in Ambiguous ($62), Elizabeth Arden Plush Up Lip Gelato Red Door Crush ($52), NARS Audacious Lip Colour in Delphine ($54), Clarins Joli Rouge in Papaya ($50), Lipstick Queen Dating Game Lipstick in Bad Boy ($38), Urban Decay Vice Lipstick in Love Drunk ($33), Lancome L’Absolu Rouge Sheer in A La Folie ($60), Dior Addict Lip Glow in Matte Pink ($59, pictured centre).
